Man accused of leaking dockyard info granted bail

Patil, a graduate of Industrial Training Institute, Jalgaon, had joined the Naval Dockyard as an apprentice in November 2022 for a year. In May 2023, he was honey-trapped by Pakistani intelligence officers operating under the aliases ‘Arati Sharma’ and ‘Payal Angel’

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted bail to a 23-year-old man accused of leaking information regarding ships and submarines docked at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai for repairs. A single-judge bench of justice Milind Jadhav granted bail to the accused, Gaurav Patil, on grounds of his long pre-trial incarceration spanning a year and four months and bright career prospects.

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Patil, a graduate of Industrial Training Institute, Jalgaon, had joined the Naval Dockyard as an apprentice in November 2022 for a year. In May 2023, he was honey-trapped by Pakistani intelligence officers operating under the aliases ‘Arati Sharma’ and ‘Payal Angel’. The duo contacted Patil over Facebook and WhatsApp, claiming they worked with a shipping company in Dubai and sought information from him regarding ships and submarines docked at the Naval Dockyard for repairs, location of the ships and submarines and engine drawings. Investigation showed that Patil had passed on all this information, likely in lieu of ₹2,000.

Advocates Viral Rathod and Vishwatej Jadhav, representing Patil, argued before the court that he had an excellent academic record and was on the threshold of his career. They also claimed that he had abstained from sharing some information which the Pakistani officers had sought even though he had been honey-trapped.

The court observed that Patil must have been only 21 years old when he received friend requests from the Pakistani agents and granted him bail on the basis of his academic credentials, future prospects and long pre-trial incarceration.